Fungi-inspired art with real-time lighting illuminates Burning Man
Courtesy of Kristina Chan
Held each year in Nevada’s remote Black Rock desert, Burning Man is the embodiment of counterculture—one of the few places and times you can literally step out of society and into a reimagined world.
A desert gathering for bohemians and free spirits of all stripes, art has always been at the heart of the festival.
The event features a huge array of large-scale art installations—including experimental and interactive sculptures, buildings, and art cars—all based on a theme chosen by the organizers.
This year’s theme was ‘Curious and Curiouser’ and an art collective that definitely got the memo is Understory.
A desert gathering for bohemians and free spirits of all stripes, art has always been at the heart of the festival.
The event features a huge array of large-scale art installations—including experimental and interactive sculptures, buildings, and art cars—all based on a theme chosen by the organizers.
This year’s theme was ‘Curious and Curiouser’ and an art collective that definitely got the memo is Understory.
Their installation, Nebula Shroom Grove, is a visual interpretation of a mushroom forest, intertwined with a nebula-like ecosystem, formed by interconnected modules installed at different heights.
In this article, Silvia Rueda, trained architect and Immersive Media Specialist, explains how the team used Unreal Engine and Twinmotion to design ‘Nebula Shroom Grove’—and how for the first time, a team of Columbian women represented their country and artwork at Burning Man.
In this article, Silvia Rueda, trained architect and Immersive Media Specialist, explains how the team used Unreal Engine and Twinmotion to design ‘Nebula Shroom Grove’—and how for the first time, a team of Columbian women represented their country and artwork at Burning Man.
The solitude of mushrooms
Part art installation, part architecture, ‘Nebula Shroom Grove’ was inspired by a common Colombian expression Rueda often heard growing up—that “to be lonely is to be like a mushroom.”
It’s a topic with particular resonance for the three Colombian women who make up the Understory Collective. “For our team, it has been moving out of the country, coming out of the closet, being a mother for the first time— loneliness comes in every shape and form,” Rueda says.
The team wanted to address this often unvoiced loneliness and create a sculpture that gathered people together to speak about these issues. Solitary beings that are deeply connected beneath the surface, mushrooms were the perfect symbol to start the conversation.
“We started with a mushroom, and then we gave the mushroom company, clustering all of our mushrooms together,” says Rueda. “That’s how we created a forest of mushrooms that have different sizes and scales and that illuminate at night.”
It’s a topic with particular resonance for the three Colombian women who make up the Understory Collective. “For our team, it has been moving out of the country, coming out of the closet, being a mother for the first time— loneliness comes in every shape and form,” Rueda says.
The team wanted to address this often unvoiced loneliness and create a sculpture that gathered people together to speak about these issues. Solitary beings that are deeply connected beneath the surface, mushrooms were the perfect symbol to start the conversation.
“We started with a mushroom, and then we gave the mushroom company, clustering all of our mushrooms together,” says Rueda. “That’s how we created a forest of mushrooms that have different sizes and scales and that illuminate at night.”
Having had their initial proposal rejected by Burning Man three years ago—“We were proposing a massive temple: out of budget and out of scale”—Rueda re-used the design for her project in the Unreal Engine Worldbuilding Fellowship in 2023, reimagining the mushroom-like sculpture in a surreal, Dali-esque swamp scene.
People loved it. Urged to create a VR or immersive experience, a trip to Burning Man gave Rueda the motivation to go one better: to revisit the notion of bringing the idea into the physical world.
With a tweaked design and at a smaller scale, a second application for an art grant from Burning Man’s Black Rock City Honoraria Program was successful.
After the initial euphoria of opening the acceptance email came trepidation. The team were designers, at home creating in the virtual world. Now, for the first time, they’d be responsible for finding a way to manifest those designs in the real world.
People loved it. Urged to create a VR or immersive experience, a trip to Burning Man gave Rueda the motivation to go one better: to revisit the notion of bringing the idea into the physical world.
With a tweaked design and at a smaller scale, a second application for an art grant from Burning Man’s Black Rock City Honoraria Program was successful.
After the initial euphoria of opening the acceptance email came trepidation. The team were designers, at home creating in the virtual world. Now, for the first time, they’d be responsible for finding a way to manifest those designs in the real world.
Unreal Engine and Twinmotion for fast visualization
The team started out in Rhino, creating a simple model of the mushroom based on Rueda’s original concept.
They brought that design into Twinmotion and Unreal Engine to visualize it and understand the scale of the model during the early concepting phase. “We needed to see if it was looking similar to the renders that I did,” says Rueda. “And of course, it was not.”
The design was then translated into a parametric model using Grasshopper. Parametric modeling enables you to capture design intent using features and constraints, making it easier to automate repetitive changes such as those found in families of product parts. It also creates documentation for digital fabrication, bridging the gap between the digital model and the physical construction process.
They brought that design into Twinmotion and Unreal Engine to visualize it and understand the scale of the model during the early concepting phase. “We needed to see if it was looking similar to the renders that I did,” says Rueda. “And of course, it was not.”
The design was then translated into a parametric model using Grasshopper. Parametric modeling enables you to capture design intent using features and constraints, making it easier to automate repetitive changes such as those found in families of product parts. It also creates documentation for digital fabrication, bridging the gap between the digital model and the physical construction process.
“At this point, we didn’t know exactly what size or thickness the wood was, or the accurate structure of the system,” recalls Rueda. “We needed to be able to change it quickly—and there are 32 mushrooms, so it was impossible to do that manually.”
Using the parametric model, the team could adjust the parameters of the materials that would be used to create the physical structure, down to the placement of the screw holes.
Rueda was able to quickly take the model between Rhino, Twinmotion, and Unreal Engine, to make tweaks and adjustments based on how the model would look in a real-world environment.
Using the Direct Link with Datasmith, changes made in Rhino were immediately reflected in both Twinmotion and Unreal Engine. “This is fantastic because any materials assigned to the geometry within Epic's software automatically match the model,” explains Rueda. “Even if we alter the form in Rhino and sync again using Datasmith, the updated geometry is correctly visualized in both Twinmotion and Unreal.”
Using the parametric model, the team could adjust the parameters of the materials that would be used to create the physical structure, down to the placement of the screw holes.
Rueda was able to quickly take the model between Rhino, Twinmotion, and Unreal Engine, to make tweaks and adjustments based on how the model would look in a real-world environment.
Using the Direct Link with Datasmith, changes made in Rhino were immediately reflected in both Twinmotion and Unreal Engine. “This is fantastic because any materials assigned to the geometry within Epic's software automatically match the model,” explains Rueda. “Even if we alter the form in Rhino and sync again using Datasmith, the updated geometry is correctly visualized in both Twinmotion and Unreal.”
Lighting for a desert environment
The team built a virtual desert in Unreal Engine to accurately replicate the environment in which the physical installation would be situated. “For us, it was very important for our art piece to be interactive at nighttime,” says Rueda. “So the lighting system was a key factor in our mushrooms.”
The team used the DMX plugin in Unreal Engine to explore the impact different times of day would have upon lighting, as well as how the lighting system would interact with the environment. “The more sound the sculpture hears, the more dancing lights you’ll see,” explains Rueda.
The team was able to test out how this would work in a range of potential scenarios—if an art car should pull up with a DJ blaring out tunes, how would the lighting on the sculpture react?
In addition to planning for a variety of plausible situations like this, the visualization helped them to cost up the price of supplying and fitting the lighting materials.
The team was able to test out how this would work in a range of potential scenarios—if an art car should pull up with a DJ blaring out tunes, how would the lighting on the sculpture react?
In addition to planning for a variety of plausible situations like this, the visualization helped them to cost up the price of supplying and fitting the lighting materials.
Sharing the idea with Pixel Streaming
Traditionally, many Burning Man art installations go up in flames on the final day of the festival. The Understory Collective had other plans for ‘Nebula Shroom Grove,’ however, envisioning a second life for the installation after the event.
They were able to showcase their high-quality visualizations to potential investors by leveraging Pixel Streaming in Unreal Engine, which enables you to share your project with anyone, anywhere, via a simple web URL.
“We already had everything in Unreal: lighting, atmosphere, weather conditions,” says Rueda. “It was quite easy to just jump into Pixel Streaming and showcase this to investors.”
They were able to showcase their high-quality visualizations to potential investors by leveraging Pixel Streaming in Unreal Engine, which enables you to share your project with anyone, anywhere, via a simple web URL.
“We already had everything in Unreal: lighting, atmosphere, weather conditions,” says Rueda. “It was quite easy to just jump into Pixel Streaming and showcase this to investors.”
The team was able to quickly demonstrate how the installation could look in different environments, weather conditions, and times of day, even enabling users to jump onto the mushrooms and take in the sunset.
Having undertaken this thrilling journey from design studio to the desert themselves, Understory Collective is now ready to empower others to follow in their footsteps.
They’re working on a set of Burning Man-themed tutorials that anybody can use to learn how to create an art installation and visualize it with Unreal Engine and Twinmotion.
“Maybe one of these art pieces can be made for the next Burning Man,” says Rueda.
Having undertaken this thrilling journey from design studio to the desert themselves, Understory Collective is now ready to empower others to follow in their footsteps.
They’re working on a set of Burning Man-themed tutorials that anybody can use to learn how to create an art installation and visualize it with Unreal Engine and Twinmotion.
“Maybe one of these art pieces can be made for the next Burning Man,” says Rueda.